Bernadette Peters Into the Woods Stipulation

[Lumen2]

Posted: 7/7/09 at 12:33am

I heard a rumor somewhere that Ms. Peters agreed to originate The Witch in "Into the Woods" so long as she wasn't nominated for a Tony in that role. Is there any verification to this, and if so, any particular reason for the request?

Thanks.
Updated On: 7/7/09 at 12:33 AM

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 7/7/09 at 1:25pm

This is funny because a while ago some nimrod kept posting over and over that she didn't gen nominated because her perforamnces was bad. (Obviously trying to gain credibility for his opinion.)

There was noting formally announced that Peters had any clause preventing a nomination.

She was one of te joys of the original Broadway production. When she joined the show in August 1987 it was agreed that her stay would be limited because she had a movie assignment. I think the authors and producers agreed knowing that having her name there would at least help boost the initial marquee value of the show. As it turned out her movie shoot was delayed and she was able to extend her stay by a few months. Still, by Tony time she had left the cast - on the 1988 Tony Awards you'll see Philycia Rashad - and since Joanna Gleason had won so much praise the producers submitted her name for the nomination.

It worked, because Gleason won the Tony - and maybe the Tony producers were hedging their bets but they enlisted Peters to present that award. Gleason graciously acknowledged Bernadette's contribution to the show

[musikman]

Posted: 7/7/09 at 2:44pm

I am still constantly searching for any sort of video of Joanna Gleason's acceptance speech. Alas, no luck.

[Lumen2]

Posted: 7/7/09 at 5:22pm

That's very interesting, and seems logical enough to engender the rumor I heard. Thank you so much!

[TheatreFreak05]

Posted: 7/7/09 at 5:24pm

Wait... did she originate the role? Or did she join the show in the middle of its run?

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 7/7/09 at 5:26pm

Bernadette Peters originated the role on Broadway. As Frontrowcenter explained it was a mutual decision between her and the producers to not submit her name for Tony consideration given the fact she basically played the role as a favor to Sondheim and Lapine who had no one to open the show when they were just about ready to go into rehearsals.
I think every big theater actress at the time was considered for the part but it didn't work for one reason or another. I remember Betty Buckley was attached for a while and has talked about how the "Witch's Rap" was written for her...but she was out before the San Diego (was it SD?) out of town try out.

Updated On: 7/7/09 at 05:26 PM

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 7/7/09 at 10:29pm

You would be right Ray.

Buckley was originally attached, but by the time it reached San Diego's Old Globe Theatre, Ellen Foley (of Night Court and Bat out of Hell) had taken over. Foley wasn't available for Broadway, so Bernadette stepped in.

[eatlasagna]

Posted: 7/8/09 at 12:33am

btw... it might be gone now, but there was a video on youtube with Ellen Foley as the Witch showing how the transformation was originally done... pretty cool... she also eventually played the role on Broadway, right?

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 7/8/09 at 12:57am

Yes, Ellen Foley closed out the Broadway run.

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 7/8/09 at 3:29am

I though Buckley was supposed to do the show on Broadway and quit/walked out/was asked to leave, and that was when Bernadette was called in. I never heard that was before Dan Diego.

[Pgenre]

Posted: 7/8/09 at 11:48am

Buckley may have been the first person to PERFORM the "Witch's Rap" from the Opening, but it certainly was not WRITTEN for her. I'm sure Steve would LOVE to hear that she, of all people, is spreading that story around saying he wrote a song for her... of all people. Is that why she feels the need to REwrite and REarrange (to the point of obvlivion) HIS perfect songs, against his wishes no less?

Hell, at that point in the show's development the witch ONLY rapped, Jack ONLY had pop music (thats why "Giants" remains pseudo-80s lite FM), Cinderella ONLY had operetta-ish music and the Baker & His Wife ONLY had musical-comedy style material. That was Sondheim's original intention, that each character (or pair) would have a particular style of music and the chorus numbers would somehow account for this disparity of genres.

In San Diego, Ellen Foley, by the way, was directed to play the witch as a biker bulld*ke in studs and leather. (Can you say d*ke here? Its not a swear word, its a form of waterway management actually) When the Giantess appeared Ellen growled in her most gutteral manner, "THE GIANTS... A WOMAN" upon which time she lasiviously licked her lips, panting, intoning c*nnilingus (again, not a swear word). Needless to say, that part, along with the Baker's Wife's poisoned apple, didn't make it to New York.

"Boom, Crunch" indeed.

P

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 7/8/09 at 11:54am

frontrowcentre-
I always assumed it was before San Diego, since Folley was called in.

Pgenre-
How do you know all of this is against Sondheim's wishes? I've heard from other sources, aside from Buckley, that the role was actually being written for her (I know she claims several roles in the past were, including Baker's Wife, which wasn't true). And, she isn't the only one who re-writes/re-arranges his works, and I've always heard Sondheim encourages changes.

[ljay889]

Posted: 7/8/09 at 11:57am

Sondheim flat out told her he was not happy with what she did to his songs. For concerts/recordings. There's an interview around, where she said that. I'm too lazy to get the link right now.

[ggersten]

Posted: 7/8/09 at 12:01pm

I've heard that Sondheim does write songs for the cast that was chosen. So, he frequently auditions people. Mandy Patinkin talks about having to audition for Sunday even though he'd just won the Tony for Evita. It's on the DVD audio track. Sondheim supposedly has a song in mind, and then writes it for the actor. So, Witches Rap could have been "written" for Buckley in that fashion. Complete speculation on my part.

[Jon]

Posted: 7/8/09 at 12:21pm

Patti LuPone was also offered the role, but chose to do ANYTHING GOES instead.

[Pgenre]

Posted: 7/8/09 at 12:29pm

Well, if we're going to really get down to the nuts and bolts of who wrote what for whom... Sondheim writes for the character, keeping in mind the VOICE and the PERSONALITY of the actor PORTRAYING that role and using the benefits/detriments to their best use. Character, not actor - only.

For any actor appearing in a worshop, or really anything other than a Broadway show with a last minute replacement (and I'm talking eleventh-hour, third preview "Memory" to CATS sort of addiition - and even then, its still character over actor), it is highly speculative, ignorant and arrogant of them to claim that a writer wrote anything "FOR THEM".

Liza, who Fred Ebb actually DID wrote most of his material for whether Liza was in the show or not (and Kander as well), could be considered their "muse" and claim material was "written for her" but she doesn't because the material stands for itself.

If a song was written for you the song should show that. If you have to announce it your either performing poorly or lying, stories of both seem to which haunt Miss Buckley among many other things.

And Sondheim loves INTERPRETATIONS of his material, but is a stickler for always staying glued to the highly detailed map he has created.

It takes real arrogance to re-write a Sondheim song, that's for sure.

P

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 7/8/09 at 2:06pm

It's no secret that Sondheim dislikes Buckley's "interpretation" of his songs. I believe he in particularly told her he disliked her rendition of "Send in the Clowns" and I am sure this has something to do with her not being involved in the final production of INTO THE WOODS.
I am quite glad that it wasn't LuPone or Buckley playing the Witch, I think it's an iconic Bernadette Peters role and truly it is a fantastic performance to watch on the DVD. Plus, LuPone's recording of ANYTHING GOES is my favorite recording of that show so it worked out well for everyone. But really, the original cast of INTO THE WOODS was perfectly-cast.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 7/8/09 at 2:17pm

Didn't Sondheim write "Send in the Clowns" with short phrasing because Glynis Johns didn't have a singer's lung capacity for long phrases?

[MTVMANN]

Posted: 7/8/09 at 2:19pm

Why would Bernadette not want to be nominated for a Tony? Also, can't as many names as you wish be submitted to Tony organizers?

Witches Rap??? I've never heard of that before.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 7/8/09 at 2:19pm

Yes, and he actually says that her version can't be matched because singers like to come in and "sing" the song when in fact he did not write the song for people to "sing" it. Which is Buckley's major problem (sorry, not a fan at all).

[ljay889]

Posted: 7/8/09 at 2:19pm

"Witches Rap??? I've never heard of that before."

Oh, dear.

[Bway2]

Posted: 7/8/09 at 2:23pm

It's the song the Witch first sings in the prologue.

[Pgenre]

Posted: 7/8/09 at 8:31pm

Technically, "Send In the Clowns" was written to be sung in short spurts IN THE STYLE of Glynis Johns' original interpretation which was envisioned by Sondheim partly BECAUSE of her lack of a prolonged sound but "musical" voice nonetheless. I don't know if her lung capacity had anything to do with it. To make the point clearer, use Judi Dench's version, my favorite Desiree, which is probably what most actresses will go for.

Yet,the song WAS re-written to be SUNG with a particularly sonorous new bridge portion by Sondheim himself for Miss Streisand. I adore that version of the song and prefer it to all other "sung" versions, like Judy Collins because that arrangement works and Streisand doesn't totally overdo it. I must say that Patti Lupone owns the song as far as I can tell but it has not been released thus far.

I think if Buckley did the Streisand version, which others have done, and sang the notes and words he wrote there would be no problem. There was.

P

[NakedMaid]

Posted: 7/8/09 at 11:18pm

Never heard this mess about Tony Noms. I always heard that BP wanted to be the Baker's Wife and she was refused the role, settling t play The Witch.
?????

[wickedfan]

Posted: 7/8/09 at 11:34pm

Nope. That's not true at all. Peters never "demanded" or "was refused" anything. Peters was never attached to the show until, as everyone else has stated, Sondheim and Lapine were desperate to find someone to play the Witch before the show went into rehearsals in New York. They mentioned the problem to Peters at lunch or some social gathering, (claiming) they hadn't even thought of her for the role at the time, because it was a featured role and Peters was a Broadway star. Nonetheless, Peters offered her services for the amount of time she had available and Sondheim and Lapine happily accepted. The rest is history.

Updated On: 7/8/09 at 11:34 PM